New Shoes for Our New World!

It would seem that by picking up and moving oneself halfway around the world, you also bring (or perhaps find along with the new sights and sounds) a renewed energy to try and do the things you have been putting off forever. Perhaps it's the fact that Linton and I have effectively checked out of our working lives for a year and are desparately seeking things with which to occupy our time. Moreover, I think we are beginning to realize and enjoy the fact that with time, and a considerable amount of it at that, comes the opportunity to "play" and pursue those things that always seemed to be good ideas but were never allowed to surface.

Case in point, along with the amazing mental gymnastics that my brain is doing with Organizational Learning, I am also pursuing a number of other personal goals for the year. There is an extensive library of classical literature in our house and I am trying to read as many as novels over the next 12 months as I possibly can. With The Sound and the Fury thankfully under my belt I am now wading my way through Brideshead Revisited. Next up - Moby Dick. Seriously. I have enrolled in a playwriting course and I am hoping to finally getting something on paper of an idea I have been rolling around for the past 7-8 years! There is of course the travelling that we have got a good start on and within that I am really hoping to try surfing. And finally for me there is the never ending pursuit of better health and better shape. Thus the jogging shoes are symbolic of a renewed commitment to running and better fitness. If I believe the scales in the bathroom - though I've never been good with stone - I may have dropped 5 lbs, or then again maybe I have gained 10!

Linton has also embarked upon her own new ventures and fitness is also on her list. On Thursday we ventured out into the burbs of Essendon via tram, bus, and feet to the Highpoint mall - a very Yorkdale-esque monstrosity to buy new jogging shoes - his and hers. With time on our hands and a great place to run out our front door there's almost no excuse. But can it be as simple as that? Merely time, energy, location, and new shoes? Perhaps. But for me there also has to be a goal and goal there is. We have both signed up to run a 10km run in October as part of the Melbourne marathon. It would seem I need to put my money where my mouth is.

And so the novels are being read and the surfing is to come but the jogging is simply stepping out the door every other day and putting on the kms. Not my best suit but with the new shoes and best of all a new world to run around we are both hoping the fitness fad is here to stay. Wouldn't it be great if it also came home in our luggage along with the trinkets and the t-shirts!